2 Beauty Amongst The Beasts
“Hey! She’s ours!” yelled one of the monsters who had finally caught up with Aisha.
She jumped in surprise, remembering that she was actually running for her life – if she was even alive in the first place.
“Goddammit!” Aisha cursed.
“Language,” the man smirked as if amused.
Aisha turned her head to see the three monsters were poised to attack. She dumbly stuck out her tongue, but hurriedly withdrew it when the monsters bared their teeth at her. Her hand gripped on the sleeve of the man’s pristine white suit and she begged with puppy eyes, “Help me, please?”
He looked at her with great interest, then shifted his fiery gaze from Aisha towards the monsters that had chased her.
“Back off,” the man said with authority. “She’s mine now.”
‘Hold on a minute!’ Aisha scoffed silently, ‘Why is he claiming me all of a sudden?’
As if he knew what she was thinking, the handsome man turned to Aisha and winked as he said, “Finders, keepers.”
Aisha couldn’t believe what she got herself into. Did he really mean to say that she was his now? That just didn’t seem to sit well with Aisha even for a little bit.
She was a human being for Pete’s sake!
The woman snarled sarcastically, “You can’t make us, dear Harbinger. This is not your district, so hand the girl over. We found her first.”
“Goddammit, I am not some plaything you claim and pass around, you piece of shits!” Aisha grumbled.
“In the words of the little lady here,” he dramatically paused as he lazily pointed at them one by one, “you piece of shits seem to forget your place as well. I am a Harbinger, and you are nothing but damned souls.”
Aisha froze in place. What does he mean he is a Harbinger? A harbinger of what? And did he just say damned souls?
“Shit, I am in hell! I never should have soaked those condoms in Carolina Reaper juice!” she said out loud.
The Harbinger suddenly burst out laughing when he heard Aisha’s little monologue. “You are a funny little lost soul,” he quipped.
Aisha stared at him and squinted her eyes, “Is that a compliment or an insult?” she asked.
“Depends on how you want to take it, Miss Hot Chili Condoms,” he teased cockily.
The woman screamed as she had enough of their banter, “Enough of this! Get her!”
The monsters’ dark nails suddenly extended into sharp claws and they bared their rotten razor-sharp teeth at them. Aisha wanted to scream, but no sound came out. She could only cling on to the man in front of her, hoping he would actually protect her.
She would worry about his trustworthiness afterwards. At the very least he just had eyes like the pits of hell compared to the gross and rotten monsters with the sharp claws and teeth. But was Aisha correct in her guess that he was actually the lesser evil here?
Honestly, she didn’t know.
Suddenly, Aisha was taken off guard the Harbinger hit and made her fly backwards. Aisha felt her whole body slam against the wall like a ragdoll.
“Gakh!” she made a strangled sound as she coughed out blood.
Aisha fought the urge to pass out. She slumped onto the dusty ground and saw how one of the monsters had his arm buried in the exact place she had stood seconds ago. Aisha gulped and felt her whole body turn numb and cold.
If the Harbinger hadn’t pushed her, she might have been minced meat by now. Should she thank him for pushing her, or curse him for doing it so harshly? Perhaps she can mash up a thank you and a curse into one.
The man snapped his fingers, and suddenly the monsters that had attempted to gang up on them were contained in a ball of fiery energy. He wore a devious grin, his fingers twirling as magic pooled at its tips.
“You can’t do this,” the woman complained, “Lord Barbatos will kill you if he knows about this!”
The fiery entrapment slowly shrunk, making movement limited. They tried to thrash their way out to no avail. The Harbinger was undeniably stronger than they were.
“You should learn your place as well,” the Harbinger growled.
Aisha was left in awe. With just an easy downwards flick of his point finger, the Harbinger had brought them crashing to the ground.
“How are you even in this part of the 2nd district? You don’t have business here,” one of the monsters hissed at the man.
The Harbinger’s back tensed and Aisha knew he wasn’t going to let the monsters go with their snide remarks. He took a step forward, and his voice suddenly turned dangerous, “It’s none of you low-class demons’ business what a Harbinger is doing here,” he said, extremely pissed off by their audacity to question him.
Aisha saw symbols appear around the Harbinger’s wrists. The symbols were unfamiliar, and yet their fiery glow seemed to convey something. She watched intently, and she swore could hear indistinct whispers from them.
The Harbinger looked down on the demons and then flipped them high up in the air. The third demon shrieked, “Fuck you, 4th Harbinger! Lord Barbatos will know of this.”
The Harbinger wasn’t interested to hear them cursing at him and hissed, “Go back to where you belong and cry to Barbatos for me.”
With a flick of his wrist, Aisha saw the symbols around the Harbinger’s wrists spun fast. It expanded until it blurred into a huge portal of flames. He swiftly swiped his hand to the left, and the demons that chased Aisha zapped away into the fire.
Their screams of terror echoed until the portal closed. Aisha wondered where they were sent. Who was that Lord Barbatos anyway?
“Woah,” Aisha whispered, “That… that is just insane.”
The man crossed his arms and then scoffed at the embers floating around him. It was as if it was his normal routine, which was absolutely abnormal to Aisha. Well, what else was normal in hell but making people suffer, right?
Aisha should have gotten the memo by now. Why was she so slow? Maybe her IQ degenerated when she had fallen from that ravine.
The Harbinger dusted himself and straightened his white suit. He spun around to walk towards her and his fiery gaze locked with Aisha. In the short span of a second, her amazement suddenly changed into apprehension.
There was just something in his eyes that screamed danger – aside from the fact that his pupils had actual flames in them. Aisha’s knees turned weak and she tried to push herself up, only to slump back again. Her body still ached like hell from being blasted to a brick wall.
Looking down at Aisha’s situation, he smirked and cocked his head as he flashed her a coquettish smile, “Cat got your tongue?”
Aisha was confused about what she should say, and she stuttered as the man leaned forward to take a closer look at her, “I – uh – thank you! Thank you so much for saving me! How can I ever repay you, kind sir?” she asked.
The man didn’t reply to Aisha’s gratitude and just continued to smile dangerously. He looked like he was going to devour her with his probing eyes. This made her rather slightly ticked off by how he was both so handsomely sensual and deadly at the same time.
That should be illegal! Why does he look so good but he literally raised the flag of hell with his fire eyes and evil smile? Aisha had escaped three monsters, but somehow, she just bumped into one that was much more terrifying.
The man reached out his hand towards her. Aisha hesitated at first, but in the end, accepted his offer. Pulling her up, the man’s grip tightened on Aisha and she yelped in pain. Why was he suddenly harsh with her?
“Ow! That hurts… Did I offend you or something?” she asked.
His eyes stared at her for a very long time, and Aisha’s heart raced a thousand miles per hour with the intensity of his gaze. Not to mention they looked like two holes of a fiery furnace. Fuck… what was she going to do now?
“Strange… what are you?” he suddenly asked.
Aisha’s eyes widened at the question thrown at her. Why did he ask such a thing? Wasn't it already obvious? Aisha's head swam in an ocean of questions.
The man’s curiosity didn’t stop as he tried to scrutinize every part of Aisha he could look at. Somehow, she felt like he could actually see through her and shivers ran up and down her spine, only to kick back and do it for a second time. Was that even possible?
“I – I am but a lost soul, sir. I don’t know how I came here,” she replied. “If it helps, my name is Aisha Yang. Can you help me go back home?”
The man regarded her with much interest, and then let go of his tight grip on Aisha’s wrists. Taking the opportunity, she immediately tried to make a run for the opposite direction. She was definitely not going to be eaten alive by the man with the flaming eyeballs!
Unfortunately, in a blur of movements, he appeared right in front of her and had effortlessly secured Aisha with his vice-like grip.
“Akh! Let me go!” she cried out, “I just want to go home!”
The man swept Aisha off her feet and lifted her over his broad shoulder. He snaked his right hand between her legs and held her right wrist with the same hand as he carried her off to God knows where.
‘Is God even in this place?’ a thought suddenly popped inside Aisha’s head, ‘Yeah, no… this fiery place is much more of Satan’s vibe.’
“Let me go! Where are you taking me?” Aisha demanded as she kicked her legs and bashed the man’s shoulders with her free hand.
“I am taking you to one of the rebirth centers. They will handle you there,” he replied curtly.
